Bring a fairy tale to Hogwarts!

Chapter 90 The Magic Mirror's Display

Filch stood there stiffly and silently for what seemed like forever, his eyes still fixed on the mirror, before finally speaking:

"—Is this all I wanted to see?"

"But it's so real—"

Victor shook his head, stepped forward, and looked in the mirror with Filch—but to him, the mirror now only showed Filch's old and sharp face.

“Many spells can do that,” Victor said, “but they’re usually not good stuff. I once heard of a curse back in Knockturn Alley that could kill a person when it showed them what they most wanted to see.”

Filch, who was still staring at himself in the mirror, paused for a moment, then silently looked away and took a few steps back.

His heel struck the lantern that had just fallen to the ground, making a crisp "clink" sound, and the lantern rolled a few times on the ground.

"So you mean this is also some kind of bad—magical item?"

As Filch slowly bent down to pick up the lantern, he asked in a low, unusually hoarse voice.

"I clearly remember that Hogwarts didn't originally have something like this. This used to be a storage room. So, did some student put this mirror here? Some despicable bastard, just waiting to see others make a fool of themselves—."

"It's difficult," Victor said, shaking his head. "This magic mirror is quite tall; it's almost impossible for a student to smuggle it in alone. Besides, the spells on it are quite complex; I think it could sell for thousands of Galleons. A student wouldn't just leave something so valuable lying around in an empty room."

"Thousands of Galleons?"

Filch's voice became a little shrill.

Victor nodded affirmatively, then took his wand from his pocket. He tapped the wand on the mirror, as if hoping it would reveal something different.

For example, the desires of other people—and so on.

If he could find a way to see the desires of others, this mirror would become exceptionally useful—which salesperson wouldn't want to know what their customers want and what their dreams are all along?

Unfortunately, after Victor tried five or six spells, the mirror remained unresponsive.

Filch fell silent again. This time, he didn't stare at the magic mirror, but instead stared at the ground with an inscrutable expression. After a while, he reluctantly stammered, "..."

"I think—I think we should seal it away, right, Professor? This kind of somewhat evil magical item shouldn't be left out; it could easily influence the students."

"You can put it in my office. You know... I have a special cabinet and room for storing dangerous items—"

"Looking in the mirror too much is not good, Mr. Filch," Victor said calmly. "Those wishes cannot be fulfilled by looking in the mirror."

"—I just want to keep it reasonably," Filch said softly.

Victor shook his head noncommittally and did not continue the discussion—oddly enough, he did not ask Filch what exactly he wanted.

But when he used a spell called "Reveal the True Form" again, Filch suddenly frowned, as if he had seen something.

"Wait a minute, Professor, the thing in the mirror has changed."

"Hmm? You saw a new wish?"

"no--."

Filch frowned, raised the lantern higher, trying to make the mirror shine brighter with the crooked candle. He looked at it for a moment, not quite understanding, then slowly said:

"I don't know what this means. But in the mirror, I reached into my pocket, as if taking something out—does this represent anything I want? Or does it mean—? The curse in the mirror has taken effect?!"

In the end, Filch hastily pulled the lantern back a little from his hand.

"It shouldn't be a curse," Victor said, frowning, "but it does seem like there's some other magic on this mirror—I just don't know what it is."

"I have to—"

"Not needed for now."

A voice, aged and tinged with helplessness, suddenly came from the open space behind the two.

Victor and Filch turned around and discovered that a third person had appeared in the small room at some point—Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

Clearly, neither Victor nor Filch are nearsighted. But they hadn't noticed Dumbledore standing there; he must have used some kind of invisibility spell to walk in just now.

At this moment, he was wearing a purple bathrobe and looking at Victor with a helpless expression:

"I'm sorry, Professor Victor, for wasting your time. I placed this mirror here myself; it only has some insignificant spells on it, so there's no need to examine it."

"You put this here?" Fell looked at Dumbledore with a puzzled expression. "But—why?"

"Oh, I originally intended to use it to test the students. I've heard many students complain about the heavy academic pressure, saying they don't have time to do what they truly want to do. So I thought I'd put the mirror here to see if passing students really can't fulfill their wishes—"

Dumbledore said this with a lighthearted yet somewhat helpless tone. He even sighed.

"But unfortunately, the students are too busy. Not a single student has discovered this place yet."

“They don’t come here often,” Filch suggested hoarsely. “You should put it near the auditorium. The students will search every single closed door there.”

Filch clearly believed Dumbledore's explanation. Dumbledore nodded and chatted with Filch for a while longer about the popular classrooms.

But after standing there and looking in the mirror for a while, Victor felt that something was not quite right.

"Is the magic on it also for the students? I feel it's more of a detective-style game—but I can't be completely sure."

"Ah, that was another arrangement of mine—you still figured it out." Dumbledore's smile seemed somewhat bitter. "How should I put it? I originally intended to move it to another location to serve some other purpose—but judging from Argus's performance, this spell seems to have some flaws."

"It seems that not everyone's problems can be solved with the same approach. So some puzzles that I find difficult might be quite simple for others."

Victor and Filch were both listening attentively. But only Victor looked thoughtful, while Filch remained puzzled. He couldn't understand what Dumbledore meant.

"So you're going to change the spell on it?" Filch tried to guess Dumbledore's intentions.

"Oh no, no need," Dumbledore smiled and said slowly, "This spell is only meant to keep one person in check. Even if everyone can see through it, I'm not worried at all."

"I think we don't need to patrol tonight. You've worked hard, Victor, Argus, you should both go back and rest."

After a brief chat, Dumbledore finally emerged from where he had been standing, seemingly bidding farewell to the two men. Victor stood to the side, offering no resistance—he remained thoughtfully observing the mirror.

The target that the curse is trying to block seems quite clear now.

Is the Mirror of Erised also meant to guard the Philosopher's Stone?

It seems his dice roll was correct.

With that thought in mind, Victor nodded goodbye to Dumbledore and walked out of the small room.

But before parting ways with Filch completely, he called out to the elderly school administrator:

"Mr. Filch."

The corridor lights illuminated most of his face, but his eyes remained hidden in the shadow of his hat brim.

Filch stopped in confusion, and together with Mrs. Loris the old cat, watched Victor approach and hand over another strange parchment card.

As Victor approached, he said calmly:

"I heard you say earlier that the wish you saw in the magic mirror is related to the Ministry of Magic. I may not be able to help with this personally, because my divination only works on wizards..."

For wizards only...

Filch's expression froze abruptly, his face turned deathly pale, and he seemed to shrink by half a head in an instant. But Victor ignored his resistance and shoved the business card into his hand without a word.

"You might want to try this place. There are a lot of special things inside—maybe they'll be helpful."

Victor said to himself.

Only then, by the candlelight, Filch finally managed to make out the words on the business card. It read: 13 Yifandao Alley.

Bokin Burke Store.